Chapter Five
Charlee
Another day, another job.
I’m back at the warehouse today after wandering around for most of last night. I finally found a house that was empty and crashed there for a couple of hours this morning. I showered but ended up taking all of my belongings with me when I left. The family was gone for the last couple of days if the pile of newspapers and mail was any indication and I’m hoping that I’ll have a couple of days there before I have to move on.
I got a text on my burner phone and headed over to the warehouse around two. When I get there, everyone else is already inside and I can tell that they’ve been talking about me. I start to grow uneasy as I take in how close they’re standing and their whispered voices. I’ve gotten good at reading rooms when I walk into them and when I walk into the warehouse, the mood is tense. My gut is already telling me that I’m not going to like this, that whatever they have lined up is bad news for me.
“Hey, what’s the score?” I ask, getting right to the point.
They give each other looks as they move back, making room for me at the table. I take my seat and look over everything that’s spread out on the table. There’s pictures of buildings and streets and artwork and blueprints, enough that I can tell that they’ve been planning this for a while. The fact that they didn’t ask me to do surveillance or anything has a warning racing down my spine.
I start to line up the pictures, trying to find out what the mark could be. There’s a lot of pictures of art though. Surely, they don’t want me to try to steal them all. It’s not a house this time but some kind of museum. That means more security guards, a better security system, and more witnesses. I look at the blueprints next and it becomes apparent that while I would be able to get in with no problem, getting out would be almost impossible.
I look up at Tommy and as soon as my eyes meet his, he looks away. That’s all it takes and I know that this job is a bad idea. There’s no way that I’m going to do it. I knew that they saw me as expendable but I didn’t think that they would try to actively get rid of me.
“What’s the mark? Which of these pieces are we trying to get?” I ask as I fan the six photos onto the table.
“All of them.” Pops says evenly.
All six pieces? This score would be huge, like retire and buy your own deserted island and be set for life, huge. For just a second, I push my doubts and worries aside and consider doing it.
I raise one eyebrow and go back to studying the maps and layouts. I double check where each piece is hanging and where the security points are. It’s hard to really tell without having seen the place myself but I still know that I can’t do this. There are cameras, motion detectors, heat sensors, lasers, and security guards.
That’s just to get through the building. Each piece of art is attached to sensors and screwed into the wall. The statues are all either in pressure sealed locked boxes or on weight sensitive plates. It would be impossible to get the art without setting them off, unless Rolo has already figured out how to hack their system.
“Do we already have a way around their system for the art?” I ask, looking to Pops.
“Rolo is working on that. We should have everything set to go in another week.”
“What about a way around the security system?”
“We’ll be ready.” Pops looks me dead in the eye when he says that but everyone else shifts, they’re not as good of liars as he is.
I debate telling them that I’m not going to go anywhere near this job right here and now but something about Pops has always scared me. I shiver as I think about what he would do if I refused to go through with their plan. Looks like I’ll be leaving LA a little earlier than I thought.
“I’ll go run through the place now, case it out before they close. Let me know when we’re going.” I say with as much confidence as I can muster.
I look up at Pops and he stares back at me. I can tell that he’s trying to read my face and I do my best to keep my face blank. His eyes narrow but he finally nods and I stand up from the table.
“Here.” Pops says, tossing me a paper bag. I open it and see cash inside, my cut from the jewelry heist.
“Thanks.” I say, grabbing my stuff and heading for the door.
I exit the warehouse and walk quickly down the street. The paper bag of cash is tucked into my backpack and I need to get somewhere private so that I can count my money. I remember that I still have Grayson’s wallet from last night too and I never checked to see how much cash he had inside it. I’m hoping that it’s at least a couple of hundred dollars and it will put me over my goal. If it is, I could be on a bus out of town tonight.
I get far enough away from the warehouse and I start to breath easier. I duck into a public restroom on the beach and lock the bathroom stall behind me. I slip my backpack off and unzip it, grabbing the paper bag and the wallet out of the side pocket. I go through the paper bag first. My cut is a little less than I thought it would be and I know that they are skimming off of the top of my share. I tuck the jewelry money with my other savings before I flip open the wallet.
I see Grayson’s drivers license first and my eyes snag on his picture. His address is on it and I study it for a minute before tucking it back into the pocket. I decide to stop wasting time and open the wallet more, fishing the cash out.
It’s less than I thought it would be, only about $140 and I sigh as I tuck the cash with my other money. I’m about to ditch the wallet when something catches my eye and I flip it open, grabbing one of his credit cards. A black amex. You have to be really rich to get one of those.
Suddenly, my mind fills with possibilities. If he has a black amex, then he has to have more money at home. He was easy enough to fool the first time and I bet that I could get around him again. He was obviously interested in me last night and I think that if I could just run into him again, I could get him to ask me out. We could go back to his house and then once he falls asleep, I could take his money and get the hell out of dodge.
I smile as I think about my new job and I try my best to convince myself that I’m only happy about seeing Grayson again so that I can get my money.